Definition of "rectus" [‖Rec•tus]

• Any of various straight muscles, as of the abdomen, eye, neck, and thigh. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Thus, if the internal rectus is shortened, the eye turns in; if the external rectus, the eye turns out, producing what is known as "wall eye.""
• "It means originally straight just as our Saxon word right and the Latin word rectus denote, in their symbol, a straight line; that being nature’s type of moral rightness, or rectitude."
• "Contributing Factors: The abdominal diastasis is simply a separation of the right and left sides of the front abdominal muscles rectus abdominus from their central attachment."